Control for the movement of vehicle bodies



June 21, 1938. w. VON WEDELSTAEDT 2,121,720

CONTROL FOR THE MOVEMENT OF VEHICLE BODIES Filed Oct. 22, 1937 I I 4Warm;

Patented June 21, 1938 I umrso STATES rarest orrics CONTROL FORTHE-MOVEMENT OF VEHICLE BODIES Wolfi von Wedelstaedt, Leipzig, GermanyApplication October 22, 1937, Serial No. 170,457 In Germany August 29,1936 5 Claims. (01. 280-412) My invention relates to means for bankingthe Figure 2 illustrates a similar view with the body of a vehicle as itrounds a curve. Springs vehicle bearing an increased load and stress;

for the purpose of banking or slanting the body Figure 3 illustrates aView similar to Fig. 1 ofvehicles when taking curves are known in thebut showing the vehicle body banked for a left 5 art and consist for themost part of pivoted hand curve; and 5: means supporting the body. Thesedevices, how- Figure 4 illustrates a view similar to Fig. l but ever,have the great disadvantage that they only showing the'position assumedby the body with function, to any great extent, when the body the rightrear wheel on a bump or the like.-

and the vehicle are in the normal position. As shown in the drawing thebody A is sup- When turning curves and the body is slanted, ported atthe rear on either side by end rollers I -(j as well as when the vehicleis thrown out of the a, o and c, d pivotally secured. to the free endsvertical by bumps or other elevations in the of arms 6, f and g, h,respectively of bell cranks. road, etc., the spring action in the usualinstalla-- The vertices of these bell cranks are also pivotaltions isunequal on each side of the body, and ly secured to rollers or slidingmeans i, it, re-

" frequently the length of the spring prov t be spectively, which aremovable transversely of the 15 too short toremain in contact on oneside, so vehicle on horizontal tracks or g yS m that the body issubjected to strong rattling and against the action of h sp n 11, wh htends shaking, that is to say, it cannot assume a pI' pto draw themtowards the center of the vehicle.

, erly banked position conforming to the bend of The Springs 1L00111131156 l springs extending the curve and the speed of the Vehicle.transversely of the vehicle and may be mounted g6 An object of theinvention is to correct this on a rod or other support in axiallyshortcoming and cause a perfect Spring action thereof. The ends of therod I!) are pivotally atwhich has sufficient force to create andmaintackled to the aplces i of the bell l v T tain a continuous springeffect between the body Outer s of e springs 11 bear against the1nbanked on a curve and the chassis of the vehiner cells of the guides mThe inner ends of 25 the springs n bear against the collar ll secured Afurther object is to provide a new Spring on said rod. The rollers a, coperate in vertical action and a novel manner of vertically actuatguidesor tracks respectively a the mg the joints of pivot members mounted onthe b, d operate respectively in the horizontal guides or tracks 10 r.In addition the movements of chassis by means of a spring in such mannerthat 30 said spring takes up all of the swinging motions g arecounteracted fi ai' of the body through the corresponding vertical sorers w \Ch are mountefl on 8 ve e shifting of both joints or one joint asthe case f i i ffii g i g g g to the fight an ersieo eveiceoy. may be.In the preferred form, these Joints form AS the arrangement of cranksrollers, guides, ag

the vertex of bell cranks wh1ch move with the Spring and shock absorbersis the Same at the movement of the body or chassis by means of front endof the vehicle as the ust described roller provided arms, one of whichslidingly rests on the bottom of the b d and anothe arm arrangement atthe rear, further description is which rests 1mm 1 on 3; Sid w 11 ssuperfluous. With particular reference to Figs. 0 S g y e a 1-3inclusive, the operation of the device will now body; be described, itbeing understood that the ac- 40 W 1th foregotng a other 910399175 mtion of the arrangement at the rear is duplicated the invention consistsin the details of construcat the from unless Otherwise specified tion,and in the arrangement and combination As Shown in Figs. 1 and 2 theverties k of of Parts; to be heremafter more fully Set forth the bellcranks shift from the inner to the outer and clalmedends of thetracks-l, m against the action of the In es b n the invcnticn in detail,referhorizontal spring n and the shock absorbers s,t ence will be had tothe accompanying drawing when the body carries a maximum load in theforming P Of this application, wherein like position of rest or on astraight drive. In this characters denote co resp d pa s in theposition, the end rollers b, d and a, o of the bell Seve W and H1 crankarms are seated, respectively, in the outer Figure 1 illustrates aschematic rear View of a the upper termin l of the guides p, r and 0, q.Vehic e including y invention and showing t From this position, the bodycan not move'furvehicle in a position of rest or in a straight therdownward, which proves that the maximum 5- course with a normal load andstress; loading which is responsible for this extreme po- 5 sitionshould be avoided. In all lesser loads, however, the vertical springingmovement of the body is assured by means of the spring 11. and the shockabsorbers s, t.

With the vehicle carrying less than a maximum load and taking a leftcurve, the body A, as shown in Fig. 3, is slid to the right against theaction of the springs .n by reason of the centrifugal force which isinitiated by the turning of the vehicle. Fig. 3 shows the position whichthe body assumes at the end of the right hand limit of slide. Obviously,this position does not arise on slight curves or during low speeds, theamount of slide permitted by the springs n and shock absorbers s, itdepends almost entirely upon the sharpness of the curve and/or the speedof the vehicle. Other factors, such as the load and the degree of bankof the road enter into the situation to some extent alsoj By comparingFigs. 1 and 3, it is easy to see that when the vehicle enters the curve,(a left hand curve, for example), the body slides towards the right andthe left hand ends of the guides r, p, engage the rollers d, brespectively, and cause the bell cranks to pivot on their vertices in aclockwise direction. This action raises the arm of the right hand bellcrank and as the roller 1) thereof can slide. no farther in the track orguide p, the right side of the vehicle body is, perforce raised. In likemanner, the roller d of the arm h of the left hand bell crank has alsoreached its limit in the guide r and carries the left hand side of thevehicle down as the right side is raised.

When a right hand curve is taken, the reverse of the above operationtakes place and the left hand side of the body is raised While the rightis lowered. In this connection, it is to be noted that the lowering ofthe one side of the body is "the result of a positive forcing down ofthat side while the opposite side is positively raised. Consequently,the body A pivots laterally about its longitudinal axis, although thereactually is no central support therefor. By this action, each side ofthe body A is raised or lowered only onehalf as much as would benecessary were the pivots arranged at the corners of the vehicles.

Moreover, the sliding action not only eliminates the necessity forcentral and longitudinal axial pivots for the body A but creates theforce for actuating the bell cranks; Further, this arrangement providesmeans whereby the correct degree of banking of the body A isautomatically achieved without a complicated and expensive arrangement.

During the return from the curve to the straight run, the body A, byreason of the force of gravity and assisted by the neutralizing effectof the shock absorbers, gradually returns to its normal position inaccordance with the diminishing centrifugal force.

When the right rear wheel hits a bump or such, (Fig. 4), the right wheeland right end of the axle are raised and the vertex and roller 2' of thebell crank e, ,f are slid to the right against the pressure of spring11,, and arrive eventually at the terminal point shown in Fig. 4. Theend rollers a, b arrive, respectively, at the upper and right terminalsof guides 0 and p, While bell crank g, 71. remains in the neutralposition. Thus, no sliding of the body A occurs and its horizontalposition is, therefore, not disturbed.

While I have shown and described what is now believed to be thepreferred form of the invention, yet it is obvious that it is capable ofother expressions and embodiments. Consequently, the attached drawingand foregoing description are to be regarded as being illustrativerather than limitative, it being my intention not to limit myself to theprecise structure shown and described except as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. In a vehicle including running gear and a body, means connecting saidbody to said running gear and comprising the sole support for said body,said means being operable when said vehicle rounds a curve toautomatically bank said vehicle to said curve to an angle commensuratewith the speed of the vehicle and degree of the curve, said meansincluding a slidable connection between said running gear and said bodyto permit a limited and variable lateral sliding of said body under theinfluence of the centrifugal force generated by the rounding of thecurve, said connection including rigid means slidably and pivotallycarried by said running gear and slidably and pivotally connected tosaid body, certain of said connecting means being actuated by saidsliding of said body to raise the side thereof adjacent the long are ofthe curve, and the remaining connecting means being similarly actuatedtbo simultaneously lower the other side of said ody.

2. A device for automatically banking a vehicle body for rounding acurve to an angle commensurate with the speed of the vehicle and degreeof the curve, said device comprising the sole support for said body onthe running gear of said vehicle, comprising rigid arms slidably andpivotally connected to the running gear of said vehicle for sliding andswinging movement in directions transverse to the direction of travel ofsaid vehicle, the free ends of said arms being slidably and pivotallyconnected to the sides of said vehicle to permit a lateral sliding ofsaid body under the influence of centrifugal force generated by therounding of a curve, spring means resisting said sliding, means limitingthe sliding of said body, said means being associated with the free endsof said arms and causing the arms connected to one side of said body toraise that side while simultaneously causing the arms connected to theother side of said body to lower the same.

3. In a vehicle including running gear and a body, a spring suspensionmeans connecting said body to said running gear, said means including atleast a pair of inwardly facing bell cranks horizontally slidable andpivotally connected at the vertices to said running gear, spring meansconnecting said vertices and resisting sliding movement of said cranksaway from each other, the free ends of the inwardly directed arms ofsaid cranks being pivotally connected and horizontally slidable withrespect to the bottom of said body, the free ends of the other arms ofsaid cranks being pivotally connected and vertically slidable withrespect to the sides of said body, means limiting the sliding movementof the arm ends and vertices of said cranks whereby to permit limitedlateral sliding of said body under the influence of centrifugal forcegenerated therein during the rounding of said curve, said means limitingthe sliding of the free ends of said inwardly directed arms causing themto pivot on their vertices and raise that side of the body nearest thelong are of said curve while simultaneously lowering the opposite sideof said body.

4. In a vehicle including running gear and a body, a spring suspensionmeans connecting said body to said running gear, said means including atleast a pair of inwardly facing bell cranks horizontally slidable andpivotally connected at the vertices to said running gear, spring meansconnecting said vertices and resisting sliding movement of said cranksaway from each other, the free ends of the inwardly directed arms ofsaid cranks being pivotally connected and horizontally slidable withrespect to the bottom of said body, the free ends of the other arms ofsaid cranks being pivotally connected and Vertically slidable withrespect to the sides of said body, means limiting the sliding movementof the arm ends and vertices of said cranks whereby to permit limitedlateral sliding of said body under the influence of centrifugal forcegenerated therein during the rounding of said curve, said means limitingthe sliding of the free ends of said inwardly directed arms causing themto pivot on their vertices and raise that side of the body nearest thelong multaneously lowering the opposite side of said body, the vertex ofeither of said cranks being slidable outwardly to permit the passage ofthe nearest ground engaging member over an obstruction toraise one endof said running gear without altering the level of said body.

5. In a vehicle including running gear and a are of said curve whilesibody, a spring suspension means connecting said body to said runninggear, said means including at least .a pair of inwardly facing bellcranks horizontally slidable and pivotally connected at the vertices tosaid running gear, spring means connecting said vertices and resistingsliding movement of said cranks away from each other, the free ends ofthe inwardly directed arms of said cranks being pivotally connected andhorizontally slidable with respect to the bottom of said body, the freeends of the other arms of said cranks being pivotally connected andvertically slidable with respect to the sides of said body, meanslimiting the sliding movement of the arm ends and vertices of saidcranks whereby to permit limited lateral sliding of said body under theinfluence of centrifugal force generated therein during the rounding ofsaid curve, said means limiting the sliding of the free ends of saidinwardly directed arms causing them to pivot on their vertices and raisethat side of the body nearest the long arc of said curve whilesimultaneously lowering the opposite side of said body, and springsconnecting the sides of said body to said running gear, said springsbeing operative to resist the sliding and banking of said body.

WOLFF VON WEDELSTAEDT.

